Author Revealed

About Jonathan Jones

Q. What is your birthdate?

Q. Previous occupations

Q. Favorite job

Q. High school and/or college

A. I went to Prestatyn High School, Darland High School and Wrexham Sixth Form College, all in north Wales

Q. Name of your favorite composer or music artist?

A. Bach

Q. Favorite movie

A. The Godfather

Q. Favorite television show

A. The Simpsons

Revealing Questions

Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?

A. A Welsh boy who loves art and history

Q. What is your motto or maxim?

A. I came, I saw, I stayed to look

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?

A. Being in Italy with Sarah, my wife, and our daughter Primavera

Q. What’s your greatest fear?

A. Losing my sight

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?

A. Florence

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?

A. Niccolo Machiavelli

Q. Which living person do you most admire?

A. Family apart, the name that comes to mind is Seamus Heaney

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?

A. I've made a New Year's resolution to stop saying "fantastic".

Q. What do you regret most?

A. Rejecting an opportunity to visit Mexico City at the height of the swine flu panic

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?

A. The ability to write poetry (see also my answer to Question 8)

Q. What is your greatest achievement?

A. My daughter

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?

A. Talking too much about my daughter... and excitability

Q. What’s your best quality?

A. Enthusiasm

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?

A. I would be the artist Cy Twombly... or at least would own his palazzo

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?

A. Red hair, my mum says

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?

A. Joseph Conrad's Marlow

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?

A. Joseph Conrad's Mr Kurtz

Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?

A. It would be Leonardo da Vinci and I would tell him his science is still admired five centuries after his lifetime. He would know his art lives on - but he would be delighted to hear that his inventions also survive.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?

A. Bad art.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?

A. Looking at art

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?

A. Chef

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?

A. Courage, humour, intelligence

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?

On Books and Writing

Q. Who are your favorite authors?

A. I love the novels of Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon and Joseph Conrad, the stories of Boccaccio and Dante's poetry. Machiavelli's books have fascinated me since I was a history student and so have some great historians including Fernand Braudel, Natalie Zemon Davis and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie.